Is chop chop the ultra modern salon experience we desperately need?

Going to the salon is meant to be a relaxing experience. Someone washes your hair, you read some magazines, you leave feeling a million bucks…

In reality, a salon session can be pretty fraught for a lot of people. If you have anything other than typical Caucasian hair, you’re never sure the salon will a) agree to see you, b) actually know what to do with your hair and c) not charge you an insane surplus. If you don’t identify as a cisgendered female, you’re concerned you’ll be told you’re in the wrong place, or feel you don’t fit in, or have to endure awkward questions from your stylist.

Well, not any more. A new pop-up salon called Chop Chop has opened in London’s Old Street, offering varied services for everyone – regardless of hair type or gender.

The salon ‘menu’ consists of 24 styles, all at £20, which 20 minutes to complete. Quick trims, layered cuts, dry styling and braiding are all on the table, quicker than you can say ‘just a little off the ends, please’.

Sherman Hawthorne, a Vidal Sassoon trained hairstylist, is heading up the styling team, and he’s the one who designed the inclusive menu, which they’ll update seasonally.

“Consumers now want a brand that understands that we live in culturally mixed communities, we work longer, we travel more, we are less financially better off and we are constantly connected,” co-founder Kaye Sotomi told WGSN. “All of which means that we are time poor and desire more convenience, we want quality but a price point that suits our budget, and we lean towards services that are literally at our fingertips.

“I think nothing like this exists yet in the beauty industry, so there was a huge gap that we hope Chop Chop can fill.”

You can book via an app or their website, choose your style and stylist and know exactly what you’re going to get and how much it’s going to cost.

While Chop Chop are starting in Old Street, they’re rolling out across London in the coming months, meaning you’ll be able to search for your nearest pop-up style ‘pod’ and enter a virtual queuing system for a stylist, kind of like Uber. Unlike Uber, it doesn’t have to be luck of the draw – if you like a particular stylist, you can request them again in future, just like at a traditional salon.

Speedy styles, purse-friendly prices and inclusive to boot? Meet the salon of the future.

Images: Chop Chop

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Daniela Morosini

Daniela is a beauty writer who contributes to Stylist Magazine and stylist.co.uk. In the name of journalism, she has run headlong into Benecio del Toro’s chest, been turned into a 3-D statue (which she thinks her sister might be using as a voodoo doll) and once spent a day with Kylie Jenner. Beyonce’s hair stylist proclaimed to be ‘obsessed’ with her dad, which effectively makes her rock’n’roll royalty. Is never without a face mist.